The New Testament, though it mentions Hell, is surprisingly vague on the subject. The result of which has divided believers over the issue. Some adamantly claim that there is indeed a Hell where sinners are tormented eternally, while others claim that a loving God would never think of such a concept.

The NT was written at a time when the concept of Hell was still in a state of transition. This has resulted in a certain amount of vagueness that has actually worked out well for the faithful. A hard line position either way would have settled the matter once and for all, but how could a position, if it were spelled out precisely, utilize the believer's faith? Faith has always enabled the believer to discover and embrace the concept that he is seeking.

A statement declaring that the first Christians, "did" or "did not", believe in a literal Hell is an over simplification of the matter. There were many different strands of thought on the subject. These varied from the Sadducee position where the dead are indeed dead and there is no resurrection, to the OT concept of "rephaim" which were not "souls" in the Platonic sense but rather shadows or ghosts, to the full fledge Persian/Greek soul concept found in NT apocrypha. The punishments ranged from; humiliation of powerful men in a common death, to temporary refining of the soul by fire, to punishment of sinners for all eternity.

It is probably safe to say that by the middle of the second century AD the Christian concept of Hell had fully evolved. Many of the supporting concepts were present, but they were so underdeveloped in Hebrew thought that such a conclusion was not possible before that time.

The Apocalypse of Peter, written in the second century AD (probably in the first half) provides some of the most vivid descriptions of the torment in Hell to be found in any of the Jewish/Christian works:

20. And over against that place I saw another, squalid, and it was the place of punishment; and those who were punished there and the punishing angels had their raiment dark like the air of the place. 21. And there were certain there hanging by the tongue: and these were the blasphemers of the way of righteousness; and under them lay fire, burning and punishing them. 22. And there was a great lake, full of flaming mire, in which were certain men that pervert righteousness, and tormenting angels afflicted them. 23. And there were also others, women, hanged by their hair over that mire that bubbled up: and these were they who adorned themselves for adultery; and the men who mingled with them in the defilement of adultery, were hanging by the feet and their heads in that mire. And I said: I did not believe that I should come into this place.

The narrative goes on to describe the torment of various sinners (murderers, those who cause abortion, those who persecuted the righteous, blasphemers, false witnesses, the rich etc.).

The Apocalypse is also mentioned in the Muratorian Canon with the interesting note that some would not read it in the Church. (http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/muratorian.html) Its graphic description of Hell probably prevented it from gaining acceptance into the Canon.

Even though the Apocalypse of Peter is virtually unknown by most Christians today, it probably shaped the Christian concept of Hell more than any of the other books in the Canon.

It is likely that the first Christians held at least some of the very same concepts about the afterlife that were present in literature before and after the first century. This is especially evident when the very same concepts present in non-canonical literature are also found in Christian literature.

The following concepts were current during the first century.

1. Rewards and Punishments in Hades await Man in the afterlife.2. At death Abraham would receive the faithful in the section called Paradise. 3. Sinners would be tormented in a separate section of Hades4. There was no crossing over to the other section(s).

The references that follow should be sufficient to establish the fact that many of the ideas found in the NT clearly reflect many of the ideas that were in Hebrew thought during the first centuries.

There are in fact so many strong biblical, doctrinal, and logicalarguments against the existence of a literal hell that this questionnaturally arises:Why do the churches teach it and why do people often believe it?...The churches tend to believe that fear, rather than love conquers all.- Robert Short, Methodist clergyman, U.S. Catholic, April 1980